⚔️ Chapter 71
"Victory reveals more enemies than failure."
🎯 Scene 1: The Tournament's Fire
The final rounds of the First-Year Seeker Competition ignited with thunderous cheers. The arena had shifted—no longer held in simple duel rings but transformed into a living dungeon, forged with reality-bending runes by diamond-tier seekers. Forests, ruins, volcanoes… all simulated inside a vast battle dome.
Teams were now pitted against both monsters and each other, and only the top 5 teams would move on to the Grand Finals.
Anshi stood near Aeren, checking her gear.
"This round's different," she said. "Each team must collect three Soul Cores from dungeon beasts. First team to return wins."
Aeren nodded. But deep inside… the mark on his back pulsed again.
It hadn't left since Varnyx.
🧠 Scene 2: Power Hidden in Plain Sight
In the first round, Aeren's team moved stealthily. While others chose brute force, Aeren did something no one expected.
He simply watched.
"There's a Wyvern-Rook hiding beyond the ridge," he said quietly. "Its breathing disturbs the fog every 6.3 seconds."
"How do you know that?" his teammate whispered.
"I don't," Aeren answered, "I just… see it."
And like that, their team avoided six ambushes, defeated two monsters using their own instincts against them, and retrieved their first two Soul Cores without losing a single member.
"He's reading the battlefield like a book," murmured a silver-tier observer from the stands."No… like he's writing it."
💀 Scene 3: The Hidden Trap
Far above, in the VIP balcony, a new observer watched silently—his eyes concealed by silver glasses, his black cloak trimmed in crimson sigils.
A Nexilis agent.
He leaned to one of the Sinjai officials.
"That boy... the weakest one. What's his name?"
"Aeren. Wood tier. Why?"
"No reason," he lied. But in his mind, he was screaming:"The mark is real. He's the heir of the clocked one."
Aeren's birth wasn't a coincidence. He was placed in Sinjai. Protected by fate… until now.
🧭 Scene 4: The Team That Shouldn't Have Been
As Aeren's team entered the final zone for the third Soul Core, a trap was triggered. One of the cliff walls shifted—revealing another team.
One from the Darksky Institute, a rival academy known for assassins and experimental seekers.
Their leader smirked.
"Oops. Looks like we'll be taking that last Core."
"You're on the same level as us. That's illegal—"
"We're Nexilis-backed," the assassin whispered. "Rules don't apply to us."
Anshi stepped forward, eyes blazing.
"You'll regret threatening my team."
But just before she could strike, Aeren raised his hand.
"Let me handle this."
Everyone stared.
And for the first time… Aeren took a step into the battlefield first.
⚡ Scene 5: The Mindquake
The assassin launched three blades—each laced with paralytic venom.
Aeren tilted his head.
The world slowed. He saw the blades. He saw the vibrations in the air. He saw the assassin's next move.
He moved once.
The assassin screamed.His mind… shattered.
Aeren hadn't even touched him physically.
"H-how…?" his teammates gasped.
"I didn't attack him," Aeren said quietly. "I just let him feel the fear… inside his own thoughts."
🔚 End of Chapter 71